Aranya Sengupta

This Foundation Project implemented by IFA under Productions will create a series of artist books that will investigate the history and evolution of printmaking technologies in Bengal. Aranya Sengupta is the Coordinator for this project.

Aranya Sengupta is a visual artist based in Kolkata. His areas of specialisation include printmaking, bookmaking, graphic art, illustration, book collection, photography and video art. He has a Master’s in Graphic Art (Printmaking) from Visva Bharati University. He has about 20 artist books, four animated short films and documentaries and several exhibitions to his credit. Given his experience he is best placed to be the Coordinator of this Foundation Project of IFA.

Bengal has a nearly 250-year-old history of print-art employed in printmaking. Mediums and methods of print-art have continuously enriched the making of book designs in Bengal. Over the years, with changes in technology these methods and mediums have evolved and transformed. However, with the advent of digital software composition and cost-effective commercial printing, print-art which used to be mainstream and popular has now become nearly obsolete. Currently, print-art is researched only in a handful of art colleges and studios of a few individual printers; and print-art works are being acquired by galleries and private collectors. This is ironic because print-art was originally born out of a protest against the elitism of the fine-arts. However, capitalism has inevitably appropriated print-art and made it inimical to its protesting ideals. Therefore, terms such as ‘original print’ and ‘mono print’ are so familiar to us today as art collectibles. For instance, if a book is produced today using lithographs, it is usually made only for a gallery - not for a bookshop. As part of this project, Aranya will create a series of five artist books, in an attempt to reclaim printmaking methods and media for the non-elite reader.

Further, this project will explore the physical relationship that a reader has with a book. Generally the reader’s physical relationship with a book is that of turning pages. But the possibilities of this relationship become infinite when one thinks of the design, layout or format of a book. In that context, there is ample scope to explore multi-dimensionality, and even the sculpture of the book. The many levels of interactions that can be built between the reader and the book is also something that this project will closely explore.

The five artist books that Aranya will create in this project will each be in a specific media: i) a graphic novel based on a popular tale from bottola in woodcut method; ii) a pop-up book on Tagore’s Tasher Desh in line block method; iii) a flutter-accordion format book on a fantasy tale in offset method; iv) a letter/ envelope format book in serigraph method; and v) a diary format book based on the fictional Diary of Sushanta Chakraborty in digital method.

The project will involve detailed research into each of these printmaking methods, thereby tracing the broader history of printmaking in Bengal. It will explore different ways in which the format and the medium, can engage in a visual conversation with the reader.

Aranya will video document this entire process of book making. This includes recording the processes of sketching, printing, binding, and ways of marketing. He will keep a record of buyers of these books and their responses after reading them, along with discussions by professionals on the topic of artist books in Bengali and print-art, and accounts of their own experiences.

The project will culminate in a physical and an online exhibition that will elucidate the evolution of print-technology for books in India. The exhibitions will feature Aranya’s work as well as those of other book collectors. Various specimens of the transformation of Indian book printing from the beginnings to the present day will be showcased. Other than the medium, some rare specimens that have experimented with the shape, structure, dimensions or appearance by breaking away from the traditional formats will also be exhibited.

Additionally, Aranya will also use this project as a springboard to build a website dedicated to rare Bengali books.             

Aranya’s deliverables to IFA with the final report will be the artist books, video documentation of the process, a download of the website containing the virtual exhibition along with the URL, and still and video documentation of the physical exhibition. (He will also return to IFA the scanner that he buys with the allocated funds.)

This project suitably addresses the framework of IFA’s Arts Practice programme in the manner in which it artistically investigates into the evolution of printmaking technologies in the context of Bengal and in the larger context of the country.              

IFA will ensure that the implementation of this project happens in a timely manner and funds expended are accounted for. IFA will also review the progress of the project at midterm and document it through an Implementation Memorandum. After the project is finished and all deliverables are submitted, IFA will put together a Final Evaluation to share with Trustees.

This project is supported by Sony Pictures Entertainment Fund.